New Feature: Offline Capability for Pīnyīn Plus Web Resources

[UPDATED 2019-08-22: Information has been added about mobile Safari’s limited lifespan for unused cached files, and about receiving new or updated material.]

While there are many advantages to web resources, including ease of loading (Just click/tap on a link in your web browser! No other app is needed!), speed of updating, etc., one disadvantage of web resources has been that one’s computing device generally had to be connected to the Internet for it to be able to access them.

In recent years, however, a new web technology called service workers has been developed to enable web resources to be loaded even when one’s computing device is offline (not connected to the Internet).

The following Pīnyīn Plus web resource has been enhanced with service worker technology, so it can now be loaded offline in supporting web browsers:

• Good News Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing basic Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Good News brochure,
  2018-03 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  Can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “flashcards” integrated with the text,
  (tap/click on a Pīnyīn word to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” to hide it),
  Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
  carefully done human-translated
  context-appropriate English translations
  with literal & effective meanings,
  Simplified & Traditional characters,
  📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced,
  and 📘 Reveal None controls for
  all the “flashcards” in a lesson, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, audio links,
  video thumbnails & links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
• Short Links:
  Links > Publications > Brochures >
  Good News Brochure Links (tiandi.info/fg)

The above web resource’s Introduction page has also been updated with this related information:

To use this web resource while offline (not connected to the Internet):

1. While online (connected to the Internet), use a web browser that supports service workers to go to this web resource’s main index page on the web.
   • Your supporting web browser will then automatically set up offline capability for this web resource. Part of that setup involves automatically saving this web resource’s files to a cache on your viewing device. (Info on different browsers’ storage limits can be found here.) After that, your supporting web browser will be able to load this web resource from its cache, even when your viewing device is offline.
2. At a later time, if you just go to this web resource as usual in the above-mentioned supporting web browser (perhaps using a bookmark), this web resource should load and work as usual, whether or not your viewing device is connected to the Internet.
   • Note: A URL (web address) that starts with https must be used to load part of this web resource offline. Also, at the time of this writing, in the Safari browser, a URL ending with /index.html must be used to load the main index page offline. Edit any related bookmark as necessary.
   • Note: Since storage space is still often constrained on mobile devices, the Safari browser on iOS (used on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) will remove this web resource’s cached files if they remain unused for “a few weeks”—perhaps for just two weeks. So, if you will be wanting to use Safari on an Apple mobile device to access this web resource offline at a particular time, make sure that you load or reload this web resource in that browser (while either online or offline) no more than about two weeks beforehand.
3. There is no Step 3!

Of course, while your device is offline, your supporting web browser will not receive any new or updated material for this web resource if that new or updated material gets uploaded to the web server after your supporting web browser last saved this web resource’s files to its cache. However, when your device is back online, loading part of this web resource in your supporting web browser will automatically cause your supporting web browser and its cache to be updated with any new or updated material on the web server for this web resource. (You may need to reload twice, or to first switch to a new tab or restart your web browser.)

Other Pīnyīn Plus web resources will also be enhanced with service worker technology as time allows.